The moon promises presence, and then days later it is gone. The losses, the valleys in between these peak moments, have to be crossed with the realization that the spiritual ground of life is not even. God sometimes will be inaccessible to us. Yet losing faith can be integral to having faith. Believing entails doubting. The moon waxes and wanes. The systolic/diastolic pattern found in the beating heart is present in the spirit. Without contraction, no expansion. Without loss, no attainment.
— David J. Wolpe, Making Loss Matter